Mayor Coleman A. Young's legacy lives on with portrait dedicated in the building named in his honor

By Wendell Bryant/Tell Us Detroit

DETROIT, MI - On Thursday, November 19, 2015 the Detroit Wayne Joint Building Authority, facilities manager of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center (CAYMC), dedicated the oil portrait of Mayor Young located on the 13th floor of the building.

Restored and refurbished a few years ago, the portrait painted by famed artist and sculptor Artis Lane, was moved from Cobo Center to the 13th floor in the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center. Ms. Lane has also sculpted the bust of Mayor Young located on the first floor of the facility.

Elected officials, former mayoral appointees and staff, colleagues and speakers all gathered in observance of the portrait dedication and shared reflections and antidotes on Mayor Young highlighting his contributions. Stephen Henderson, Detroit Free Press Editorial Editor and Pulitzer Prize recipient served as Master of Ceremonies.


Pictured here is Dolores Harold, Sister of Portrait Artist Artis Lane with Patricia Cole. (Photo by Monica Morgan)

The 66th Mayor in office for twenty-years and an unprecedented five terms, Coleman Young was Detroit’s first African American mayor and the city’s longest serving.

Following Mayor Young’s death, in 1997 the City-County Building was renamed the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in his honor. Mayor Young’s contributions included the expansion of Cobo Hall and directed the development of the Renaissance Center, the Riverfront, Joe Louis Arena, Chene Park and other developments throughout the city of Detroit.

For two decades Mayor Young’s portrait hung in the Cobo Exhibition and Convention Center, now Cobo Center.